Date 6 April 1911 | Result Albanian tribes victory | |
3.280 soldiers 27.000 soldiers (34 infantry battalions)20 heavy machine guns24 mountain cannons Similar Peasant Revolt in Albania, Vlora War, Albanian revolt of 1912, Albanian rebellion of 1997, Albanian resistance during W | ||
The Battle of Deçiq (Albanian: Beteja e Deçiqit) marked the beginning of the turning point for Albanian liberty.
Contents
Location and background
The battle took place near Deçiq, south of the town of Tuzi (today in Montenegro). Tuzi is the town center for the region of Malësia that lies within Montenegro, whereas the capital town for all of Malësia is Koplik. Malësia is simply translated to "The Great Highlands", which is a well depicted name due to the rough mountainous terrain within this region. The region of Malësia is mostly under the Roman Catholic faith. The tribesman of Malësia are known as Malësor, meaning Highlander.
The battle
The main portion of the battle took place between Tuzi and Koplik (Albania), where the Malësors went against thousands of Turks. Koplik is the largest town in Malësia, right across the border with Montenegro is Tuzi. As the fighting proceeded, both armies decided to move north into the town of Tuzi, where the battle ended.
Outcome
In 1913, at the Treaty of London, the powers of Europe decided to annex half the land of Malësia to Montenegro, wheres the rest remained in Albania. Tuzi, along with the tribes of half of Hoti (Traboini), Grudë, Triesh, and Koja e Kuçit went to Montenegro. Kelmendi, the other half of Hoti (Rapsha), Kastrati, Shkreli, and the town of Koplik remained in Albania, but certain parts of Kelmendi such as Vuthaj, Martinaj, Plav, Gusinje, went to Montenegro and Rugova was annexed to Serbia.